Where are all the people on Active Surveillance (AS)?

And you ended up doing RALP, right?

I was on active surveillance for seven years and two years ago my cancer progressed from Gleason 6 to Gleason 7 I decided to take action before it progress more . My prostate was removed two years ago and so far so good.. It is a personal decision whether active surveillance on a different treatment good luck my friend..

I was on AS for five years. Had a biopsy twice and annual scans. My urologist assured me that things were stable. Then they weren't.
Scans once a year are sometimes not enough. My cancer progressed from one year to the next to the point where a prostatectomy become somewhat of an emergency. Unfortunately that all happened when my doctor had a scheduled family vacation and an already backed up patient load, so a couple of months went by before surgery was scheduled. And then the customary three month time span after the procedure before checking my PSA allowed the cancer that had metastasized to get a foot hold.
After having completed chemo, ADT and radiation therapies over these past two years I'm stable at the moment but it's a waiting game now to see when it comes back.
My biggest mistake during the period I was under AS was that I was somewhat apathetic about the disease and treatment options. I let my doctor make all of the decisions. I trusted that everything would just be fine.
I should have started my research early on when the disease was first detected and I should have sought out second and third opinions.
Would things have been different had I done more research? It's hard to say but at least I would have been more in charge of the process and perhaps taken earlier steps toward treatment.

@jsteve at some point we all have to rely on the expertise and knowledge of our providers to make the best recommendations for us. Don’t kick yourself for not getting multiple opinions. I agree with you, though, that AS may give us a false sense of security and allows denial of the seriousness of the diagnosis to get a foothold. Hopefully your recent treatments, in spite of disease progression will have a favorable outcome and you will have a long remission or other avenues for additional treatment if/when cancer recurs.

@handera, hope all is well. I came across this Greek Chef who has a cooking show on PBS. Her recipes seem very much in line with a prostate healthy approach to food. Here is a link… https://www.dianekochilas.com/wprm

The show is “My Greek Table”. A number of episodes focus on health and longevity through food.

@ezupcic

Thank you!

I looked over her website….quite impressive…Diane is from the Blue Zone Greek island of Ikaria and many of her Greek/ Mediterranean recipes look amazing.

We’ll have to give some of her recipes try!
https://www.island-ikaria.com/about-ikaria/Ikaria-BlueZone

@ezupcic
I did a 404 page not found. Maybe it will come back tomorrow.

I removed /wprm and I can get to the site.

@jeffmarc

Same issue… try here:
https://www.dianekochilas.com/greek-recipes/special-diets/
….then select “Mediterranean Diet”…

@handera

Beautiful recipes !!!🥰

Was eating food like this my whole life but it seems that only plant based diet (vegan) is truly helpful with PC.

Our urologist confirmed that at our first post-op appointment so we will stick with that as much as possible. Luckily many of Mediterranean recipes ARE vegan and the rest becomes vegan if one removes cheese and chicken 😉👍 !

I'm quite a bit ahead of most here it seems, and maybe don't scare as easily. 20 years ago in 2006 I had a PSA of 6 and had a biopsy at Virginia Mason in Seattle. I had a 3+3=6 gleason score. Of course now they know that a gleason 6 is low risk and many are now saying it shouldn't even be called cancer. My Urologist stated he could remove my prostate or just do watchful waiting (called AS now) I read every book I could find on the subject and also had a second opinion where I was told I could just get regular biopsies and PSA tests and see where it goes. That first biopsy was the only one I have ever had in 20 years. In 2012 I read about a new book by Dr Mark Scholz named "Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers.", and after reading it, and having my PSA climb again to 7 I called his practice in Marina Del Rey California and made an appointment. He did a Color Doppler Ultrasound and determined It looked fine, and to come back once a year. My PSA continued to climb and varied between 8 and 11 when I had my last appointment with him in 2019. I stopped seeing Dr Scholz only because of the Covid pandemic where flying wasn't recommended. My PSA continued to climb and when it reached 14 in 2024 I decided it would be OK to fly to California. I met with Dr Scholz where he did his color doppler ultrasound and during the scan he said "Boring." He told me my PSA was the result of large prostate of 100cc and some prostatitis. In the years I saw him he gave me a perscription for an MRI at a center for excellence. I never ended up getting an MRI and my last PSA was 19. I think my prostate is even bigger now so as I approach 84 I have considered not getting anymore PSA tests. On the other hand my PSA never scared me enough to have any drastic procedure done so I will probably still get one every year just in case.
Dr Scholz is a Prostate Oncologist specialist and has great website PCRI.org (prostate cancer research institute). Dr Scholz wrote a second book "The Key to Prostate Cancer) with chapters written by other specialist. It covers all aspects of the disease and therapies for it.
Other than dealing with a very large prostate I'm happy I never had anymore biopsies or had any drastic procedure.